Summary

Several widely used biology databases supported by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) are facing unsettling change. Over the next 4 years, NHGRI expects to bow out as sole funder for these resources, ranging from protein databases to the world's most authoritative catalog of human disease-related genes, Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man. Who will pick up the tab is not yet clear. Other databases could face a similar threat as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) takes stock of all its data resources. NHGRI Director Eric Green says that nothing has been decided. But he and other NIH leaders are searching for ways to cut costs, and they are urging the databases' overseers to consider charging for use.